My knee is still all screwed up. I have NO IDEA what I did to it. But last Thursday I woke up and it was swollen. Kind of red and hot to the touch. Not sore really, just kind of… stiff and achy. I went to the doctor the next day and it was diagnosed as prepatellar bursitis. I have no idea how it happened, my best guess is that I was crawling around on the floors a lot cleaning out our office/junk room and rearranging Maggie’s toys and stuff. Because the swelling had gone down a bit and it wasn’t hot anymore, she told me just to take it easy, keep icing it throughout the day, and take ibuprofen for the swelling. So I did.

And it was fine for a few days. A little swelling here and there after I’d been walking around a lot, but nothing major. But yesterday and today it has gotten a lot worse, almost as bad as last week. It’s not hot (thankfully!) so I’m not worried about infection at this point, but it’s a little bit sore and DEFINITELY swollen. GRRR.

I’ve been trying to take it easy and not do a whole lot during the day, but um… have you ever tried to ‘take it easy’ with a toddler? Not exactly easy. Dan has been great in the evenings and played with her after dinner while I sat on the couch like a big lazy loser with a frozen bag of corn on my knee.

I’m not sure what to do. I’m not in any pain so I’m hesitant to go back to the doctor just yet. She said that I should be careful for a few weeks, so maybe that means it’s normal that it hasn’t gone away yet? I am just SO not wanting to go back to the doctor because the other option besides the ibuprofen and ice was sticking a FREAKING NEEDLE IN MY KNEE AND DRAINING IT. And then sticking ANOTHER NEEDLE IN and injecting some kind of steroid.

Is it weird that I labored to 7cm dilation without an epidural (and then willingly allowed a stranger to stick a needle IN MY SPINE) but I’m freaking out at the idea of a needle going into my swollen kneecap?

I just wish I knew what I did to my knee. So I’d have a cool story, like I was fighting ninjas or something. Instead I’m all ‘um yeah, I was crawling on the floor with my kid and now my knee looks like it has a golf ball inside of it.‘ LAME.

9 Comments

My dad had bursitis in his elbow. It swelled up like a grapefruit and was all spongey. Of course he’s 60. ;) They didn’t have to drain it … it went away on its own. They were concerned about infection.

Please please please try seeing a chiropractor next time for it. They’ll have ideas other than draining the fluid and injecting you. They’ll actually have ideas for getting rid of it and keeping it gone.

Having a bum knee is no good. I recently got a new piercing in my ear and for the first couple of days it was fine, almost like it wasn’t new at all. But then about day 3 it started swelling up and getting all red and hot to the touch. It got so bad that my mother was afraid I’d have to have my ear amputated! I fixed it fast but it sure was painful and scary. I hope yours isn’t anything serious!

I hope the knee thing goes away and stays away for you! What a pain…ummm…pardon my pun. But anyway, anytime I am out shopping and see a trash can, especially a stainless steel trash can, I think of you! Just though you should know! ;)

Hey, I had something like that a few weeks ago with my knee. I totally WebMD’d myself too because there was no way I was going to the doctor about it with that whole ‘draining the thing with a needle’ option looming in the air. I did the ice-Ibuprofen thing too but I also elevated it whenever I was sitting down with a few pillow under my knee and that seemed to help too. All I know it was not comfortable to walk on or function for close to a week and like you, I had no idea what I did to make it happen.

@Kristy: I was super-relieved when the dr said I didn’t need the needle thing right then and there!! And I’m also glad to hear that you got better with time too. It’s already doing much better yesterday and today than it was on Thursday, so I’m hoping it’s on the mend. It’s not a huge horrible injury, but it’s definitely annoying and uncomfortable (and also: RANDOM.) Especially when you have no idea how it happened! heh